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]]>http://yvesonhabs.com/2012/07/02/welcome-to-montreal-brandon-prust/feed/0Hal Gill close to resigning with Montreal Canadienshttp://yvesonhabs.com/2011/06/01/hal-gill-close-to-resigning-with-montreal-canadiens/
http://yvesonhabs.com/2011/06/01/hal-gill-close-to-resigning-with-montreal-canadiens/#commentsWed, 01 Jun 2011 11:34:24 +0000http://yvesonhabs.com/?p=958It’s been reported that Hal Gill has signed a 1 year deal with the Habs. On the Canadien’s website, he’s “close to resigning with the Canadiens“. Which means the deal is done I would think.

I think Hal is a great piece to the “habs puzzle”. He’s obviously a leader on the team, we’ve heard about his great attitude and his mentoring of the younger Habs defensemen.

While he’s not the fastest skater or the most skilled player in the NHL, he gives his 100% and the amount of shots he directly blocks or alters in the course of a season is a valued statistic.

With all the whoopla over Price not being signed and we’re in september…. well, there you have it.

He just signed a 2 year deal.

To be honest, seeing as there are still many RFAs unsigned in the league and the summer’s generally been slow with deals and signings… I don’t think there was a panic to begin with. Except for those who thought they should panic.

Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier announced the signing of prospect Alexander Avstin to a 3 year deal.

I’ve been anxious to see much more of Avtsin since he was drafted. The 19 year old just finished this year’s development camp last week.

The scouting reports said this guy had an physical game and lot’s of offensive skill. There was talk of Alexander possibly playing with the Juniors de Montréal or Hamilton. Now it’s official that we’ll see him in North America.

I would guess that Avtsin will spend the season in Hamilton. I’m sure we’ll see a glimpse of him at camp!!

RDS reports that the Habs have re-signed David Desharnais to a 1 year, 2 way deal.

Desharnais’s agent mentions in the article that David preferred to avoid arbitration and wants to prove his worth on the ice. In this age of big business in sports…. and all the big money…. it’s completely respectable to me that Desharnais made that choice.

In fact, another player (not a Habs player) who settled for a smaller contract just last year (I believe it was last season) was Manny Malhotra. He pretty much went in and worked really hard…. put his focus on playing hockey as best he could and this year he signed a 3 year 2.5 million dollar deal.

Not sure that Desharnais will follow that exact path but I think he’s got a shot at sneaking in and taking some ice time this season. Seeing him play last year I can’t help but think a bit about Gionta and Martin St Louis. Not just because Desharnais is 5’7, I mean yeah that’s part of the comparison but the other part is that Desharnais was all hustle.

According to RDS, Maxim Lapierre and the Montreal Canadiens have agreed on a 1 year $900 000 contract.

Last year, Plekanec had signed a 1 year deal and responded with a big year. I’m wondering if this will light a fire for Lapierre. Hopefully it will.

Lapierre has shown that he can be an effective pest for opponents. I’m always hopeful for every player that wears the “CH”…. and I only wish Lapierre all the success.

Maxim also provided a bit of humor in the playoffs…. anyone remember 2 diving penalties in a playoff game for Maxim?? Followed by 1 for Gionta…. man…. memories. What’s the record for diving calls in a game anyway?

The 24-year old Klubertanz is a 6’01” 180 lbs defenseman who hails from Madison, WI. In 2009-10, he played with Djurgardens of the Swedish Elite League. Klubertanz was tied for second in scoring on his team, first amongst defensemen with 31 points in 55 games (12 goals, 19 assists).

It’s a pretty minor signing…. but no sooner then the season and playoffs end do we see a little movement. Another US college defenseman to add into the organisation.

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]]>http://yvesonhabs.com/2010/05/28/montreal-canadiens-sign-defenseman-kyle-klubertanz/feed/0D’Agostini signs and next year’s contractshttp://yvesonhabs.com/2009/08/14/dagostini-signs-and-next-years-contracts/
http://yvesonhabs.com/2009/08/14/dagostini-signs-and-next-years-contracts/#commentsFri, 14 Aug 2009 19:34:00 +0000http://yvesonhabs.com/2009/08/14/dagostini-signs-and-next-years-contracts/Today it was announced that Matt D’Agostini has signed a 1 year deal with the Montreal Canadiens. D’Agostini certain came out of the gates after being called up last year flying offensively but then after a short time slowed down like the entire team.

I wonder what role D’Agostini will play this season. He seems to have a decent shot. Will Jacques Martin play him on the 2nd line? 3rd line? Time will tell.

I’m hopeful that Martin will have success in further developing these young guys just as he seemed to do in Ottawa with the Senators.

After July 1st and the few weeks that followed Gainey has signed many one year deals. That just got me thinking a bit. Here’s a list of players broken down into the length of contracts.

It’s just my thought but next year will probably bring some more changes. Probably not a whole lot in terms of trades but it’s likely that some of the players we have today will not likely be back.

One of the reasons is going into next year Carey Price will need to be re-signed and he will get a raise.

All trade rumors and speculation aside going into next year Gainey will once again have his work cut out for him replacing and/or re-signing the RFAs and some UFAs to fill out his roster. Some of those young guys will demand a raise next year.

At the same time it could make it alot easier for him to move them if he finds a suitable trade.

Most of the defense is locked in for 2 years. If Weber and/or Subban don’t come up this year they’ll be up next year.

The message I get from all these 1 year deals is:It’s time to produce guys.

What do you think?

These are just some passing thoughts that I’ve got…

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]]>http://yvesonhabs.com/2009/08/14/dagostini-signs-and-next-years-contracts/feed/0Tomas Plekanec signs 1 year contract for 2009-2010http://yvesonhabs.com/2009/07/22/tomas-plekanec-signs-1-year-contract-for-2009-2010/
http://yvesonhabs.com/2009/07/22/tomas-plekanec-signs-1-year-contract-for-2009-2010/#commentsWed, 22 Jul 2009 14:22:00 +0000http://yvesonhabs.com/2009/07/22/tomas-plekanec-signs-1-year-contract-for-2009-2010/Tomas Plekanec has signed a one year contract with the Montreal Canadiens.

Last year was a disappointment for Plekanec. Hoping that he bounces back this season. It could possibly be a make or break year for him in Montreal if he’s not able to produce points like he did 2 years ago when he showed flashes of brilliance.

Is it possible that Plekanec could still be traded? Likely. But I guess time will tell.

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]]>http://yvesonhabs.com/2009/07/22/tomas-plekanec-signs-1-year-contract-for-2009-2010/feed/0Brian Gionta plays bighttp://yvesonhabs.com/2009/07/17/brian-gionta-plays-big/
http://yvesonhabs.com/2009/07/17/brian-gionta-plays-big/#commentsFri, 17 Jul 2009 16:46:00 +0000http://yvesonhabs.com/2009/07/17/brian-gionta-plays-big/So by now we’ve all heard about ESPN’s predicting that the Montreal Canadiens would miss the playoffs this year. If you haven’t, All Habs have the eastern conference predictions here.

And I’m sure that many of you have heard how Gainey went out and got smaller (at least at first… since then he’s actually made the team bigger and tougher).

Well, one guy who has been mentioned as a new UFA signing and as many have said of him that his “offensive production” has been down the last 3 years… his name is Brian Gionta. I thought I would spend a little bit to get to know him a little better by numbers and try to see a bit more of him in action.

As we can see, he had his big season in 05-06 where he scored 48 goals and 41 assists for 89 points. Super year.

The next year, he missed some games in an otherwise quite durable career if we were to look at previous years as well as the ones I’ve listed.

Gionta certainly has not produced as much as that super year back in 05-06. But, although his goals have gone down in the last 3 years… his assists are up the last 2 (and of course points totals) as were his +/-.

Gionta at 30 years of age still has some good years ahead. And if Jacques Martin puts him in a system that was similar to the one he played in with the New Jersey Devils along side a familiar player like Gomez… then who knows. I think with the right linemates and system, Gionta can score some goals. I have no doubt.

One thing I like about Brian Gionta is that he plays bigger then he is to. Check out these videos… Gionta will stand up for himself. And that’s important.

Gionta vs Comrie

Gionta vs Marchant

Gionta vs Chara

Winning or losing these fights are irrelevant.. the point is that he’s got a little sandpaper in him.